In this column, Carlos Correa, the South Centre’s special adviser on trade and intellectual property issues, argues that the global increase in number of patents does not indicate the strength of innovation but a weakening in the standards of what can be considered patentable. He calls for an intrinsically balanced system of protection of innovation that remains neutral in its effects on competition.
GENEVA, Sep 29 2014 (IPS) – The steady increase in patent applications and grants that is taking place in developed and some developing countries (notably in China) is sometimes hailed as evidence of the strength of global innovation and of the role of the patent system in encouraging it.
Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin is the Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 26 2014 (IPS) – The tragic deaths and injuries of women following sterilisation in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh have sparked global media coverage and public concern and outrage.
Now we must ensure that such a tragedy never occurs again.
Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin. Credit: UNFPA
The women underwent surgery went with the best intentions – hoping they were doing the right thing for themselves and their families.
Now their husbands, children and parents are left to live without them, reeling with …
José Graziano da Silva is Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
ROME, Mar 13 2015 (IPS) – Artificial meat. Indoor aquaculture. Vertical farms. Irrigation drones. Once the realm of science fiction, these things are now fact. Food production is going high tech – at least, in some places.
But the vast majority of the world s farmers still face that old and fundamental fact: their crops, their very livelihoods, depend on how Mother Nature treats them. Over 80 percent of world agriculture today remains dependent on the rains, just as it did 10,000 years ago.
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Glyphosate spraying of illegal drug crops has caused environmental damage in Colombia’s rainforest. Credit: Public domain
BUENOS AIRES, Apr 28 2015 (IPS) – After the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared glyphosate a probable carcinogen, the campaign has intensified in Latin America to ban the herbicide, which is employed on a massive scale on transgenic crops.
In a Mar. 20 publication, the WHO s (IARC) reported that the world’s most widely used herbicide is probably carcinogenic to humans, a conclusion that was based on numerous studies.
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Tamira Gunzburg is Brussels Director of The ONE Campaign.
BRUSSELS, Jun 18 2015 (IPS) – My colleagues just got back from Munich, where we held a summit bringing together over 250 young volunteers from across Europe. These youngsters campaigned in the run-up to and at the doorstep of the G7 Summit in Schloss Elmau, as one of the key moments in a year brimming with opportunities to tackle extreme poverty.
It’s inspiring to work with these young activists their enthusiasm and creativity are humbling. But the other thing about young people is that they don’t let anyone pull the wool over their eyes. Euphemisms don’t stick; skirting the point doesn’t get you very far. They keep us on our toes and that is not a bad thing at all.
Martin Khor is the executive director of the South Center, based in Geneva.
GENEVA, Nov 16 2015 (IPS) – South-South cooperation is usually seen as a poor second fiddle to North-South aid in the world of development assistance. Indeed, developing countries’ policy makers themselves insist that South-South cooperation can only supplement but not replace North-South cooperation.
Martin Khor
However, this widespread view received a jolt recently when China announced it was setting up two new funds totalling a massive 5.1 billion dollars to assist other developing countries.
The pledges, made by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to the Unit…
In Zimbabwe, four out of 10 sexually active girls aged 15-19 reported taking an HIV test in the last 12 months. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo/IPS
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 11 2016 (IPS) – Calls for low and middle income countries to contribute an additional 6.1 billion dollars to the global HIV response by 2020 could see some vulnerable groups left behind, said HIV activists meeting at the United Nations last week.
A report , the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, calls for low and middle income countries to increase their funding for the global HIV response by 6.1 billion by 2020, versus only an additional 2.8 billion requested from wealthy countries.
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A cigarette vendor in Manila sells a pack of 20 sticks for less than a dollar. / Credit:Kara Santos/IPS
UNITED NATIONS, May 31 2016 (IPS) – This year for World No Tobacco Day on May 31 the World Health Organization has recommended that countries adopt plain packaging as a way to reduce tobacco use, however so far mostly only rich countries have been able to afford to implement the changes.
Around the world, a number of effective interventions are being used to reduce tobacco use, including taxation, age restrictions, smoke-free public spaces, marketing bans, and counter marketing, and plain packaging where Australia has led the way.
The plain pa…
World must urgently increase action and ambition to cut another 25 per cent off 2030 emissions. Credit: UNEP
ROME, Nov 4 2016 (IPS) – On the eve of the entry into force of the Paris Agreement today Nov. 4, the United Nations sounded new climate alarm, urging the world to ‘dramatically’ step up its efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions by some 25 per cent more.
The (), in its 2016, warned that the world must urgently act to cut a further 25 per cent from predicted 2030 emissions to meet the stronger, and safer, target of 1.5 degrees Celsius” global temperature rise.
“The world is still heading for temperature rise of 2.9 to 3.4 this century, even …
This story is part of IPS coverage of World Water Day, observed on March 22.
Clean water is still a pipe dream for more than 300 million Africans. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Mar 21 2017 (IPS) – Though key to good health and economic wellbeing, water and sanitation remain less of a development priority in Africa, where high costs and poor policy implementation constrain getting clean water and flush toilets to millions.
A signatory to several agreements committing to water security, Africa simply cannot afford the infrastructure to bring water to…